Posts Tagged ‘Freezing rain’

Sunday was to have been my make up day. It wasn’t. I needed to complete 10 miles and an hour and a half of Yoga X. All through that day I was sore, and my start time kept being pushed back. Eventually it got to a point where I could not safely run the route since it would get too dark and there are no street lights. I decided to allow my body the time to heal and avoid being hit by a car. I also figured Yoga should help stretch the muscles and help the recovery process.

I had not had a break from running for weeks. I needed it. The yoga was still no break but it felt great in a weird, exhausting kind of way. Of course this blog is not about the miles I didn’t log, but the ones I did.

Fast forwarding to Tuesday. I had a six mile run scheduled. The perfect excuse not to run was there – a cold downpour. I could easily have said, “it isn’t safe” or “I don’t want to get sick before Thanksgiving.” But I had already run in a sleet storm, so rain couldn’t stop me. It wasn’t cold enough to use my waterproof jacket, just the resistant jacket. Enough stalling, it was time to hit the road. During my run I found that the harder the rain came down, the faster I ran. This is what I ran for, the insanity of it all. Dancing between the rain drops, avoiding the lake-like puddles, and leaping over the waterfall driveways was the world I wanted to explore over and over.

When the rains slowed down, the wind picked up. The cold drained my muscles and sapped my strength. My pace suffered, and in crept doubts. I found myself wishing for the bad weather to intensify. The rains came and went, and came back again. By the time I got home, I was soaked from head to toe.

Why do I enjoy the insane conditions more than a relaxing fall run? It is a litmus test of my own sanity.

First the facts. This jacket is designed and sold as a waterproof and windproof piece of appeal. This is accomplished through several design features. All seams of the jacket are sealed to make it waterproof and not resistant. In addition the shell is made of a light polyester to cut the chill of the wind. There is even a zip tie around the base of the jacket to snug its fit around your waist to prevent water and rain from coming in under the jacket. To reduce overheating, the inside of the jacket has a mesh layer to pull moisture away from your body in this semi-fitted jacket. If the rain stops or slows, there are zippers under the arms, which, once opened, will allow more venting of body heat. Finally, inside the left side is a pocket to hold items such as a music players, identification, or your house key. The pocket also has a small hole to allow a head phone cord into the waterproof pocket.

How about the field test? By using this jacket during a sleet storm, the effectiveness of this jacket was definitely put to the test. The temperature at the time was 35 degrees during the storm. The jacket did a great job of keeping the rain and wind out. The barrier is so strong, the only temperature I felt was what I was generating. This can be good and bad. It is great in a sense that the temperature outside does not affect you whatsoever. The bad is that if you generate a large amount of heat, the jacket will retain it. This jacket is obviously designed to be used well below 40 degrees, and most likely 35 or lower.

During my field test, the sleet and freezing rain was thrown around by a 22 MPH wind. After over an hour in the constant sleet, the only moisture under the shell was coming from me. That being said, the moisture in the jacket did not sit on my skin, but was pulled into the mesh layer under the shell. If it wasn’t for the weight of the jacket itself, the level of moisture wouldn’t have felt any different than a normal running shirt.

The last design feature is the internal pocket to store a music player, identification card or house key. The internal pocket does a great job keeping its contents dry. A tip when using this jacket, or any jacket where your music player is inaccessible, make sure your playlist is long enough.

The jacket does a great job pulling the moisture off your body and retaining heat. If you find yourself running hot, I recommend this jacket for temperatures below 35 degrees. And if you find yourself with the desire to run in a snow or sleet storm, the jacket comes highly recommended by this runner. You can pick it up at Amazon.com or your local retailer.

Like this:

When I woke up this morning, all I could hear was the rain. The temperature was below 40. It was a steady, cold rain with winds blowing at 22 MPH. My body was sore from P90X, an easy excuse not to run, and the weather was adding another. I decided to wait until the freezing rain let up. By five o’clock the weather had changed from rain to freezing rain and then to sleet and snow. It is October! The last time the weather was this bad this time of year was 1979. It was only getting worse. It was time to hit the road.

The first leg of my sleet filled run

Standing out in the rain and sleet waiting for the satellites to find me, I started to second guessing myself. Why am I subjecting myself to possible pneumonia just for an 8 mile run? I needed another reason. I did have a new running hat and my new running jacket that needed testing. If I didn’t use it in conditions like this, when would I use them? Rationalization found! The point of today’s run was to do a gear review of the hat and the jacket. Yeah that’s the ticket. The Nike watch chimed, and I was off.

As I was going along I knew my pace would be off. First, my shoulders and abs were still sore from P90X and I had to keep a close on the sleet covered leaves. The last thing I needed was injuring myself by doing something stupid, like running in a sleet storm. Through the entire run, the precipitation kept cycling from freezing rain to sleet to snow and back again to freezing rain. Moving along the road, I could not imagine seeing too many people out for the day. I was wrong. First, I passed a frustrated looking man walking his tiny frost covered chihuahua. The little dog shivered as it did its business, while the walker glared.

The encounter was shortly followed by a pair of young kids trying to make a snowman out of sleet, wet leaves, and dirt. It was not a pretty snowman, to say the least. If anything, it looked like a snowman who had suffered a tragic accident with a leaf blower and a dust storm. The kids kept trying. Their parents must have wanted them out of their hair pretty badly to send them out in a storm to make a sleet and freezing rain creation.

Along my route I started noticing the occasional person looking out their window at me. I imagine that their thoughts ranged from, “he must be crazy” to “wow, he is dedicated.” To be honest, it was most likely the former and not the latter. The strange thing was not the occasional person noticing me out their window, it was the frequency it was occurring. It may have been my cold, addled mind, but it seemed like the number of spectators was increasing. Perhaps the neighbors were calling ahead to each other to say, “Take a look out side!” One person stared at me in such a way that made me swear that when she was younger she could well have been an extra from the Children of the Corn. Her eyes stared straight as her head tracked my progress methodically along my path. To keep the run interesting, every time I ran past someone, a passing car, or a neighbor staring out the window, I acknowledge their presence with a tip of my sleet covered hat.

At the halfway mark of the run, my tree cover disappeared. Nothing was stopping the elements from their assualt upon me. The sleet and freezing rain was attacking my face under the brim of my hat. The visor does nothing! Or at least when sleet moves sideways it doesn’t. At this point I started to question my own sanity. It was too late, I was past the point of no return. Time to pick up the pace, tip my hat to a few more people and get on home.

Just before my run I received a challenge request from another Nike Plus runner. The challenge is to lose 20 lbs over the next 30 days. Since my weight has remained flat for the past three weeks, there could be no better timing. Challenge Accepted! I need to push through this 250 barrier. I am doing my weigh in on Monday, and I have a feeling it has not moved.

One last word, for those running the Marine Core Marathon tomorrow including you, Patti, good luck. I hope the weather doesn’t ruin it and everyone has a great time.